There are a lot of wannabe artistes nowadays. But being that
successful artiste is a long journey. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes just
a step to make it to stardom. But remember that the life cycle of an artiste
might just be a short trip. The life span is so short that we have seen
examples of artistes that last a year, maybe less and that’s all. We could save
that topic for another day.
Here are some 10 tips that will help you as an upcoming
artiste on how to promote your musical works.
- MAKE GOOD SONGS
The trend in the Nigerian music industry
today lies with so many artistes producing dance songs. The music scene is now
over-saturated with party jams or club bangers. The negative effect is that, on
the long run, such songs phase out quite easily. They don’t last for too long
and they easily fade out. Except you are an established artiste that can churn
out hits after hits, it is a bad idea for the upcoming ones to dwell on that
narrow path. Make a good song with a positive message. Never include the year you
sang the music. You don’t know whether it may take years before it becomes a
hit. So beware. Good songs never fade (most especially songs with well scripted
messages). Get a good songwriter and work your lyrics.
- MAKE EXTENSIVE USE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA
It is saddening to see upcoming artistes
underestimating the power of social media. This is one of thee cheapest and
easiest medium to express your product to the world. Socialize with the world. Connect
with families, friends, pals, even your enemies! Who knows! You might win them
with your music. Facebook, Twitter,
Google+, Instagram, Whatsapp, Myspace, BBM, WeChat, Kink, Skype, etc are some
of the platforms you can use to get in touch with your fans.
- UPLOAD YOUR SONGS. DON’T KEEP THEM ON YOUR PHONE.
Use uploading sites to get your music to
the world. Gone are those days when you only share your songs via infrared or Bluetooth
devices. Souncloud, Reverbnation, Hulkshare, NotJustOk, mu6, NaijaPals,
Tindeck, etc are some sites that will help you get noticed. Some of these sites
can host your songs till eternity (as long as the link remains active). Don’t just
sit and wait for them to share your music. You have to spend sleepless nights
if you have to.
- BUILD A FANBASE
Try to build a fan base starting from your
own house. Make sure you interact with your fans regularly. Send emails,
newsletters, freebies and other goodies to your fans. Reply to their mails,
tweets, comments, questions, praise, criticisms, etc. Make friends with those
who have a large friend list. Talk to them to help you share your songs. You have
to be patient however because it is not everybody that will share your songs. Stick
to those who are eager to help you. Forget about those who are eager to slow
you down. Move on.
- GET YOUR SONGS ON WEBSITES, BLOGS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS, ETC.
You really need this important tool if you
really wanna “BLOW”. Work with bloggers. They help in such a way that you
cannot imagine. Never underestimate their power and impact in the music
industry. They may charge you expensively but most times, it is worth the risk.
They could guarantee you 100,000 download but you really need to get up and add
more figures. Share, tweet, rebroadcast and repost the links to your music. You never may know when your star will shine
with just a single tweet. You never can tell who is online at a particular
time.
- BE CALM AND COOL-HEADED
Make friends. Always smile. Be humble. Create
discussions. Be a clown (if the need arises). Create a group on any social
media to engage them in discussions. Allow them to criticize your works. Be ready
to learn.
- STORM THE MEDIA. TAKE A MEDIA TOUR.
Get in touch with DJs, radio
On-Air-Personalities, Veejays and show promoters. Remember that money shouldn’t
be an obstacle at this stage. Better to give it a try than to sit down
presuming. Some DJs, OAPs, Veejays may demand payment. It is saddening of
course. But in the modern day entertainment industry, it is a sacrifice you
must be willing to make. In fact, you just have to make it. But I advise you
look before you leap because the game is so full of scammers. Advisably, don’t be
in a rush to pay. Take your time. Work with those who are in it for the
passion. Hype those who encourage you and show your appreciation by constant
calls, messages or visits. It is very important. Forget about those who are too
demanding. REMEMBER, NEVER DISS THEM.
- DROP NEW SONGS ONCE IN A WHILE
Take your time before dropping new songs. Give
some songs some window period to help flourish before dropping another one. This
will give you time to analyze and strategize on what your fans really want from
you. Dropping songs daily, weekly or monthly won’t make you a star over-night. Sometimes,
your fans could get bored of your style and they may criticize you too easily
because at this stage, you are vulnerable to come out with a flop song along
the line. You may decide to hibernate for let’s say 2-4 months before dropping
another song. Fans will appreciate it more. Before you know it, they will be
begging for an album from you.
- DROP MIXTAPES.
This goes out to the hip-hop artistes most
especially rappers. Do some mixtapes. It helps a lot. It is another medium used
for promotion. Do some good mixtapes and be sure they are more doper than the
original song (which may be literally difficult but possible). You have to be diverse and very creative as an
artiste. Create something unique. Don’t try to be somebody. That somebody
worked so hard to be who he/she is. So work harder to be YOURSELF!
- GET A JOB. BE AN ENTREPRENEUR.
Hustle but don’t bustle. You need to be
financially stable in this game. Sometimes, it is not about going to the studio
to cook up a beat and then spit some rhymes and voila, a track is out. It’s all
about the promotion. Promotion is always the most difficult branch of managing
your music work. It is the most important tool in the music game. Except you
have an buoyant manager or you are signed to a record label, you have to budget
for airplays, interviews, hypes, shows and to a larger extent, tours. You need
to work to get some extra cash to foot your bills. Music only pays at the
latter stage. You need to be well-disciplined.
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